Inspiration For A Viper
by Belle Elegant
Summary: "This isn't a prank, Randy." Bo's earnestness was almost convincing. "John didn't put me up to anything. In fact, when I tried to talk to him, he just muttered something about me not seeing him, then ran away."
1. Chapter 1

**Inspiration for A Viper**

_After the July 21, 2014 RAW_.

Warnings: swearing and Bo Dallas.

The July night was sweltering, matching Randy's temper. The heavy Miami air made his shirt stick to his chest aggravating him even more. He was leaning against his car and trying to get a handle on his rage. He sucked on his cigarette and exhaled. Damn Roman Reigns! That stunt had cost him a title shot at Summer Slam. Now it was Brock Lesner that would be getting the chance at Cena and the title and Randy was stuck in another pointless feud. Ever since Wrestlemania, Randy's life had been in a holding pattern and he was getting sick of it. The constant battles with the disbanded Shield members were getting in the way of his regaining the title.

He had been _so close_ at Battleground! Kane's betrayal hadn't been a surprise. In fact, Randy had been expecting it. He hadn't _needed_ Kane's help. But to actively hinder Randy was unacceptable. He could have beaten John Cena at the Fatal Fourway. He had beaten the man before. His face still burned at John's yelling at him to tap when he had the STF locked in on Randy. Mr. Never Give Up wanted Randy to give up, the hypocrite. Randy was going to get back at John for that.

And Hunter kept stalling on his rematch clause. He took another drag and exhaled, willing the nicotine to have its calming effects on his stressed-out system. He had gotten a ticket from the wonderful Florida highway patrol for having tinted windows (seriously, were they that hard up for funds?) earlier that day and it had gone downhill ever since. Hunter had insisted he and Kane partner against Reigns, but Randy was done with all that crap. Kane, Reigns, Rollins, they could all go hang for all Randy cared. He just wanted his chance to get the title back.

"Hey buddy!" a horrifyingly sunny voice said, breaking into his solitary rage-reflection.

Randy froze, unable to believe that someone was brave enough to be talking to him right then, let alone the person who was doing the talking. Slowly, he turned. It was Bo Dallas, dressed in street clothes and his hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Shit.

Randy vaguely hoped that maybe Bo wasn't talking to him, but someone else lurking nearby that he hadn't noticed earlier. He glanced around but no such luck. Randy was the only person in the arena parking garage.

"You look a little down," Bo observed, his voice dripping with honey sincerity. He smiled that wide smile that made Randy's fists itch with the urge to punch that face. "I saw what Roman Reigns did to you and boy did that stunk. And then Hunter giving Brock the title shot at Summer Slam instead of you? That's like, insult to injury, isn't it? But you just need to look on the bright side!" Bo encouraged with enthusiasm.

For once in his life, Randy was at a complete loss for words. He continued to stare at Bo in shock. Bo Dallas had to be making fun of him. There was no bright side and _no one_ could be that clueless.

"Cheer up! If you keep your face to the sun, you cannot see the shadows!" Bo continued.

Randy's whole body twitched. Did this guy really believe what he said? It sounded like something from one of those stupid motivational posters that sterile offices had hanging on their walls. Randy refused to believe anyone took those things seriously. And what did that shit even mean?

"Take it from me, all you have to do is Bo-lieve!" Bo held up his fists and stuck out his thumbs, still grinning like a lunatic, even more so than Ambrose at his worse.

Randy kept telling himself that Bo didn't truly believe the crap he spouted. It had to be an act. But if that was the case, Bo was probably the best damned actor Randy had encountered to date.

Then the nasty suspicion occurred to Randy that he was being pranked. He glanced around again, looking for the cameras. He didn't see any, but that didn't mean they weren't there. He stubbed out his cigarette and leaned over into Bo''s personal space. That made most people cringe back, or tremble with terror. But the little creep didn't seem to mind at all. He just stood there, grinning.

"Look," Randy said. "First off, I am not your buddy, got that? Now, I never had a problem with you in the past, Bo. In fact, you running over El Torito was the funniest shit I'd seen in a long time. But if you continue to waste my oxygen by saying that stupid shit to me, there will be a problem. Do you Bo-lieve that?" His voice dripped venomous sarcasm.

"Oh Randy," Bo said and Randy tensed in shock _again_ as the young man _reached out to pat his shoulder_. This was getting surreal. "You are so stressed out. You should really look into knitting. I hear that's very relaxing."

Now Randy was sure he was being trolled. "Where is it?" he demanded.

Bo's punchable face looked confused. "Where is what?" he asked, his nose scrunched up and Randy imagined it swollen and bloody from connecting with his fist. It took a huge effort, but he managed not to give into his violent urges. Just look at Stephanie getting hauled off to jail for slapping Brie Bella. Brie had deserved it, in Randy's opinion, since she slapped Stephanie first, but no one had asked him. He didn't need to get arrested for beating the shit out of Bo, but maybe he could plead he had been provoked? Randy was sure that anyone who had been in Bo's presence for more than two minutes would understand and sympathize.

"The camera," Randy said point blank. Bo still looked confused, increasing Randy's irritation. "Where is the camera?" he asked again. "Did Cena put you up to this? He did, didn't he, the bastard! Well tell him that this is a shitty prank and I am not falling for it."

"This isn't a prank, Randy." Bo's earnestness was almost convincing. "John didn't put me up to anything. In fact, when I tried to talk to him, he just muttered something about me not seeing him, then ran away." He looked mystified.

But it wasn't enough to fool Randy. He gathered a handful of Bo's shirt collar in his fist and pulled the younger man closer so he could glare right in his eyes. Bo's sunny confidence wilted just a tad and Randy could hear an audible 'gulp'. _'Good_,' he thought. His message was getting through. "This is the only time I will tell you this: _leave me alone!_" He held Bo close for a few more seconds to ensure his warning was heard, then shoved Bo away, though not hard enough to make him fall. He took out his keys and got into his car. He had to get to Orlando for tomorrow's show.

As he drove away, he glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw Bo standing where Randy had left him. The young man was smiling and Randy had a sinking, terrible feeling that his message hadn't gotten through as thoroughly as he had hoped.

Then he remembered Bo's motto: Don't Give Up.

Shit.

TBC?

_I'm not sure why but the thought of a frustrated Randy being chased around by a clueless Bo spouting inspirational drivel just makes me laugh. I might continue to play around with this, just for giggles. But don't worry, I am still working on the next chapter of Legend Killer too. ~ Belle_


	2. The River and the Rock

**Inspiration For A Viper**

_Warnings: Bo Dallas and swearing, because Randy._

By the next day when Randy arrived at the Amway Center in Orlando for the Smackdown taping, he had forgotten about Bo Dallas.

Big mistake.

The kid was waiting outside the locker room, talking at some backstage hands, giving them encouragement and completely oblivious to the looks of rage and horror he was getting. Randy spotted him first and promptly turned in the other direction, striding away in his usual slow swagger. '_Act casual, act casual,' _he told himself. If he hurried away, it would attract attention and he did not want anyone to think he was running from the kid, even if that was exactly what he was doing. He was nearly to the corner when he heard that dreaded voice behind him call out "Randy! Wait!"

_Shit! _

He made it around the corner and luck must have smiled on him because no one was in sight. There was a closed door next to him. It looked like a janitor's closet. He tried the knob and it turned. Breathing a 'thank you' to whatever gods were watching out for him, he slipped through the door and shut it behind him, leaning against it in relief. The closet was pitch dark, and as Randy listened for Bo's footsteps, he became aware of breathing, not his own nearby.

Swallowing nervously, he reached out along the wall, feeling for a light switch. '_Please don't be Golddust,' _he prayed. '_Please don't be Golddust.' _He hardened hisexpression into the famous scowl of the Viper and flipped the light on. He gasped in shock. "Rollins?"

Seth was frantically waving a finger in front of his lips. "Not so loud!" His eyes were wide and nervous. The Money in the Bank briefcase clutched in his hand like a weapon as he pressed his back against the back wall, next to the mops.

"What are you doing in here?" Randy demanded in a loud whisper.

Seth looked shifty. "Nothing, I just wanted to get away from everyone for a while...to, uh, think," he added defensively.

Randy wasn't fooled for a second. "In the dark? You're hiding from Ambrose, aren't you?"

"No!" Seth denied, then seeing he wasn't fooling Randy at all, he sighed, "Okay maybe. But Ambrose is always there, lurking. Waiting to attack. I can't turn around without getting jumped. The guy's a lunatic."

Considering what Seth had done, Randy felt no sympathy for Rollins. But he had to admit that he would have done exactly the same thing in Rollins' shoes. So it was a wash and Randy decided he didn't exactly care about Rollins' problems anyway. He had his own to deal with.

"Why are you in here?" Seth asked, with a look of suspicion.

"I just wanted to get away from everyone for a while...to, uh, think," Randy answered, daring Seth to say anything. Then he froze.

"Randy? Where did you go?" Bo's voice came through the door.

Randy stared at Seth, not daring to move a muscle. He was completely at Seth's mercy. If he wanted, Seth could give him away and there was nothing he could do about it. Then Bo's footsteps moved on and Randy couldn't help the a sigh of relief.

"You poor bastard," Seth whispered. "How long?"

"Since last night," Randy admitted.

"I think I'd rather deal with Ambrose," Seth said.

Nodding fervently in agreement, Randy opened the door slightly, trying to peak out and see of Bo was truly gone. The hallway was empty. He turned back to Seth. "Want me to turn the light off?" he asked. He owed the guy a turn since Seth could have outed Randy, but didn't.

Seth nodded and disappeared back into the dark as Randy slipped out of the closet and hurried away.

There were surprisingly few places to hide in the Amway Center, which _is_ surprising considering the size of the building. But Kane had already staked out the boiler room, which was a bad idea in Randy's mind since the guy could summon fire whenever the hell he felt like it. Shadowy halls were infested with Wyatts, Golddust **and** Stardust (seriously Cody, what the fuck?). Randy also avoided secluded nooks since Ambrose tended lurk in those and the gorilla position was right out since that was where Kevin Dunn hung out and Randy couldn't stand the guy.

That left Hunter's office. He told himself he wasn't hiding from Bo, _per se_, but hanging out with his old friend. Hunter was on the phone but would occasionally shoot Randy a quizzical look. Finally, Hunter hung up the phone and asked "What do you want Randy?" He was busy and Randy's presence was distracting.

"Nothing," Randy said, trying for nonchalance and failing miserably. "I just came to see how Steph is doing. Jail sucks." Of course he was speaking from experience. The Marines had no sense of humor about some things.

"She's recovering," Hunter told him, now openly suspicious. Randy had never shown interest in anyone's health or welfare in the past.

There was an expectant silence as Hunter waited for Randy to either leave or tell him what was going on. It became a contest to see who would break first. There was no way in hell Randy would tell Hunter that he was hiding from Bo, but he couldn't think of another plausible explanation for his hanging around. Finally Hunter said, rather pointedly, "Shouldn't you be preparing for your match?"

Randy shrugged. "Its with Kane. I can beat him in my sleep."

"I see," Hunter replied. The tense silence resumed, until Hunter's phone rang again. With relief, Hunter picked up the phone, answered it, then raised his chin to address Randy. "Excuse me, but I need to take this call."

Randy nodded and waved a hand indicating to go ahead, he was fine with that.

Now seriously annoyed, Hunter gritted his teeth and said, "Privately."

Knowing he had pushed too far and was getting kicked out, Randy left the office, closing the door behind him, turned around and ran right into Bo Dallas. He resisted the urge to run back into Hunter's office and hide under the desk. Instead, he scowled hard and reminded himself that he was the Apex Predator, not Kofi Kingston.

"Randy! Hey buddy!" Bo greeted him with a huge smile. It seemed that Randy's warning last night had not deterred him in the slightest. "I heard you have a match tonight with Kane. You need to remember that if you try, you're already a winner! Unlike your match with Kane and Roman where you didn't try and walked out."

"Not your buddy, Bo," Randy growled back, his face flushing was anger. He crossed his arms over his chest, hoping he looked intimidating and not defensive. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from me?" he asked.

Bo just shrugged and said with a sunny grin, "But I want to help you, Randy. In the confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins..."

"Wait, what?" Randy interrupted, not understanding the drivel Bo was spouting, but catching the a familiar name all the same. "The Rock is coming back? Dammit, I should have known! He has a movie to promote and now I suppose he will get a shot at the title too. First Bastista and now him. That sucks!" he turned and kicked Hunter's door, causing Hunter to come storming out to chew ass.

He paused when he saw Randy and Bo, his eyes flicking between the two. Randy was looking like he'd love to be anywhere but where he was, and Bo was looking like Bo. Suddenly, everything became clear. "What's going on?" he asked, a gleam of humor in his eyes.

"Hi, Hunter!" Bo spoke before Randy could. "I was just telling my buddy Randy here that even though he blew his shot at the title, and walked out on his tag team partner, he shouldn't give up! He isn't that old and there is still time for him to realize his dreams."

"Your buddy?" Hunter asked. He better understood why Randy was in a snit and Hunter was enjoying this immensely.

"No, you said the Rock was coming back," Randy accused Bo. "And I'm not your buddy," he added.

"The Rock isn't coming back," Hunter reassured Randy. "Bo, what did you tell Randy?"

"I said 'In the confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins. Not through strength but by perseverance'." Bo grinned that wide, terrifying smile and Randy _did not _takea step back. He only shifted his weight away from Bo, he told himself.

Hunter noticed that too, because Randy could see the exact moment the idea came to Hunter, who had been looking back and forth between the two of them. An unholy gleam shone in his eyes and now Randy _did_ take a step back because he knew, _he just knew_, that something bad was going to happen, and it was payback for annoying Hunter earlier.

"Randy, why don't you go get ready for your match. I need to talk to your _buddy_ for bit about something." Hunter grinned a grin born of pure evil and put his arm around Bo's shoulders.

Eying Hunter and Bo, Randy tried to keep his unease hidden behind an expression of bored indifference until he was out of sight. He told himself he was not worrying about Hunter and Bo.

He wasn't.

God dammit.

TBC


	3. And It Had Been Going So Well

**Inspiration For A Viper**

_And it had been going so well..._

Kane was strong, but so was Randy. Kane was big, but so was Randy. And Randy had a distinct advantage over Kane: he was much faster. Faster than most of the roster. And as always, he used that advantage to its fullest.

Kane could be fast when he wanted to, and sometimes he would actually catch Randy. But Randy could take an astonishing level of punishment and dish it back. The crowd cheered as Randy clutched Kane's hand that was wrapped around his throat, lifting him up to chokeslam him. Randy's counter by bringing his long legs up directly into Kane's face and drop-kicking the demon to the mat had them on their feet, screaming.

The match was predictable in Randy's mind. He knew everything Kane was going to do. Randy slithered around the ring, the Voices in his head alerting him to each move before Kane had even set up for it. The demon didn't stand a chance.

Randy had also anticipated Roman's late-match interference. He had kept his ears open, knowing that the Samoan would appear, predictably trying to time his strike when Randy got the upper hand on Kane. And sure enough, just when Randy was going in for the RKO, he heard the crowd roar. Immediately abandoning his finishing maneuver, he dropped to the mat and slide out of the ring, just in time to see the weakened Kane taking the spear. The referee signaled for the bell and just like that, through no fault of his own Randy had lost another match.

"And your winner, as a result of a disqualification, KANE!" the Lillian announced.

The crowd was still cheering for Roman. "God dammit!" Randy screamed in frustration. The crowd drowned out his words so there was no possibility that the FCC to whine about his language on television. Vince might have words for Randy, but he didn't care. He rolled back into the ring and set up to RKO Reigns. But Reigns wisely flung himself backwards into the turnbuckle, setting up himself for that stupid Superman Punch. Randy turned around and saw Kane climbing to his feet. It took half a second for Randy to see he was in a very bad position.

Both Roman and Kane were glaring at him and no matter how good Randy was, he knew he couldn't take them both at once. They all stared at each other, none of them making a move, waiting to see who would flinch first.

Then Bo's music hit. Randy recoiled, his attention drawn briefly to the stage but it was long enough. Roman and Kane double teamed Randy, who did his best to fight back. But the two overcame the Viper and he ended up in the middle of the mat, curled up against the blows raining down on his body until Roman and Kane finally turned on each other and fought their way up the ramp.

The audience, after Kane and Roman disappeared, watched in gleeful anticipation as Randy slowly uncurled and sat up. Then that voice, one that wasn't in his head, boomed over the loudspeakers.

"Hey there buddy!" Bo's eminently punchable face appeared in his field of vision as the young man leaned into the ring from the floor, his long hair dripping wet. Some small part of Bo must have had self-preservation because he didn't actually get into the ring with the hurting, humiliated Viper.

Randy wanted to _kill_. "I'm not your buddy." Even though there was no sibilants in that sentence, he _hissed _those words.

But no one heard him over the confused noise of the crowd. The crowd hadn't decided if they should cheer for Bo or for Randy. Or jeer them both. These two had never been seen together and the crowd watched in eager anticipation how this would play out.

"I see you lost again." Bo smiled in sympathy. "Like at Wrestlemania, and Backlash, and the Money in the Bank match, and Battlegrounds."

The crowd cheered, reveling in his added humiliation.

Randy wanted to _kill_.

"I know it's hard, losing all the time. Or at least I've heard it's hard, because I wouldn't know about that. But Randy, you can be a winner again. All you have to do is BO-LIEVE!" Bo smiled that beatific smile and raised his hands like he was some sort of savior.

To Randy's disgust, the crowd chanted Bo's catchphrase with him. Then they cheered for Bo's stupid words and Bo responded by grinning and raising his fists, sticking his thumbs out. It only fueled Randy's rage to watch him run around the ring like he'd won a damned match. Determined to put an end to this once and for all, Randy slithered under the bottom rope out of the ring right into Bo's path.

The young man slid to a stop and hesitated as the fickle crowd boomed "RKO! RKO!" He looked into Randy's eyes and went pale when he saw the predatory fury. But Bo gamely smiled up at Randy.

That was it, he was done. Randy moved forward to hit the little shit with an RKO just like the crowd wanted, when _another_ voice called for Randy to "STOP!"

Hunter was at the top of the ramp, striding down and telling Randy to not move. Randy turned and glared at Hunter, who was smirking like he was in on the world's biggest joke.

"Now Randy," Hunter spoke into his microphone. "I know you want your title shot, and I promise you will get it. But I already decided that Brock Lesner gets to challenge Cena at Summer Slam. However, in the meantime I think its time to shake things up. Bo is right, you have been losing quite a bit lately, and I think you could use some inspiration. So I am going to introduce you to your new tag team partner." Hunter slung an arm over Bo's shoulder. "Bo Dallas."

The crowd went wild.

Bo's grin threatened to become bigger than his face.

Randy wanted to _kill_.

"If you two can win the tag team titles, then I will give you your shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Randy." Hunter's smirk never left his face.

The crowd went even more wild. Bo raised his fists, thumbs pointed in at himself as he preened for the crowd.

Randy wanted to _kill_. "Don't do this to me, Hunter!" he threatened.

Hunter only smirked back at Randy. "Your winning is what's best for business. And I think this arrangement will inspire you to be sure that you do your best to win your matches from now on."

"Hunter, I mean it!" As he glared at Hunter, trying to come to terms with what had just happened, the Voices in Randy's head started clamoring in loudly. One was chanting _'No! No! No!'_ ala Daniel Bryan. One was whimpering in a corner of his mind.

He was already plotting his way out of this when Hunter leaned over to Randy, lowering his microphone so only Randy would hear what he had to say. "If you try anything, if you deliberately cripple him or put him in the hospital just to get out of this, I will bust you down to mid-card and you will be feuding with R-Truth. I swear to god." Hunter gave Randy one last glare, then turned away and started walking back up the ramp.

Bo wrapped an arm around Randy's shoulders and waved to the crowd, but Randy barely felt it. He was glaring after Hunter and hearing the last Voice, his voice of rage, inside his head, _'Of course you realize Hunter, this means war.'_

TBC

_So what should the WWE's newest tag team be called? Any suggestions? ~ Belle_


	4. What's In A Name?

**Inspiration For A Viper**

_What's in a name?_

_Warnings: Swearing and Bo_

They met for their first practice. The arena was empty as Randy had insisted they get there early enough to get started without any of their fellow WWE Superstars hanging around. Too many of them were having fun at his expense. Oh, they would never laugh directly in his face, unless they were stupid (Reigns) or suicidal (Ambrose), but the smirking going on behind his back was intolerable.

In the middle of the empty ring, Randy started stretching, ignoring Bo as much as possible. He was focused on his shoulders, making sure he was ready to practice wrestling holds without the fear of dislocating them. As he waited, Bo leaned against a turnbuckle, his face scrunched up, thinking hard.

"I think we should we call our tag team RK Bo-Lieve," Bo said.

"No," was Randy's only response.

"The Bo-Lievers?" Bo suggested.

"No."

"Team Inspiration?"

"Fuck, no."

With a disappointed sigh, Bo said. "I suppose Creative will give us a name if we can't agree on one," Bo said.

Randy just grunted. He didn't care.

"Do you think Creative would mix our names together, like they did Rybaxel?" Bo mused. "I wonder if they will call us Bondy or Randbo?"

That pulled Randy right out of his recalcitrance. He froze in horror, his eyes wide. The terrifying thing was he could see Creative naming their tag team exactly something like that. Suddenly naming the tag team became the most important part of this meeting. "Shit," he said as he paced around this ring. He got right up into Bo's face. "Don't you ever, EVER say that out loud again. Shit." he repeated, stalking away again. He could feel panic starting to set in.

Bo, not really understanding what the problem was, watched him with wide eyes. "What about RK-Bo?" Bo asked, a bit timidly.

That...wasn't bad, Randy had to admit to himself. "Yeah, that one will work," he decided and Bo's face lit up like a light switch.

"OK! I will go tell Creative and they can get started on our opening," he said, and ran up the ramp to the back to find a member of Creative to terrify.

Randy shook his head and slumped against the ropes. What had he done to deserve this? he moaned to himself. Then he shook his head and stood up straight. _OK, Orton, get a hold of yourself,_ he told himself in his best Scott Hall voice. _You just have to find a way to turn this to your advantage._ As much as he hated the idea, he needed to be nice...to tolerate Bo until he could figure out just how he was going to get back at Hunter for this whole stupid situation the COO had put him in.

After a few minutes, Bo came jogging back, a huge grin on his face. "Its done!" he reported as he jumped up into the ring. "And I found out who our first opponent is too!"

Randy raised an eyebrow but didn't ask. He didn't need to though, because Bo never needed encouragement to keep on talking.

"Its Slater-Gator!"

That was fine with Randy. Bo had beat Titus O'Neil in a one-on-one match earlier that year, and _everyone_ had beat Heath Slater at one time or another. So for the next hour or so, Randy had Bo go over what he could do in the ring, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The kid was actually quite a talented wrestler. But no one could truly appreciate it because he was just so _annoying_. They discussed strategy and time went by surprisingly quickly, once Randy got Bo away from the constant inspirational tangents he tended to wander off on and focus on the upcoming match. "Save your inspirational crap for our opponents," Randy told him. "I already have enough motivation to win as it is."

Bo smiled. "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it."

"What?" Randy asked puzzled, then quickly shook his head as Bo opened his mouth to explain. "No, don't bother. I don't want to know."

All too soon other superstars started entering the arena for their practice time. Seeing John and Sheamus heading his way, Randy quickly vacated the ring and headed back to the locker room, not wanting to be around anyone right then.

He could hear sniggering as he left the ring area. But that was ok, because he would get them all back, and during the last hour while working with Bo, he now had an idea of exactly how.

Everyone was expecting Randy to act like a sullen and vicious _prima donna _that he had been labeled as. Well, Randy was going to surprise them. He couldn't wait to see their faces when they found out that what had started as a humiliating joke would become their biggest nightmare.

Vipers were patient. They were merciless. And they struck out of nowhere.

Yeah, they wouldn't see this coming.

TBC

_Thanks for the suggestions for name of tag team! ~ Belle_


End file.
